How to hire a director of events

How to hire a director of events, step by step

Here's a step-by-step director of events hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a director of events job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new director of events
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a director of events do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a director of events, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a director of events to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a director of events that fits the bill.

   This list shows salaries for various types of directors of events.

   Type of Director Of Events	Description	Hourly rate
   Director Of Events	Meeting, convention, and event planners coordinate all aspects of events and professional meetings. They arrange meeting locations, transportation, and other details.	$18-53
   Planning Committee Member	The role of planning committee members is to assist with designing and implementing an educational activity. They need to ensure that the leadership gives the continuing education (CE) developer enough time to complete the CE process... Show more	$9-152
   Meeting Planner	A meeting planner makes professional decisions in all areas of meeting preparation and presentation. They plan meetings, establish meeting objectives, schedule meetings, budget expenses, inspect meeting sites, negotiate with suppliers, and create a speaker lineup... Show more	$19-37

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • Event Management
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Event Planning
   • Audio Visual
   • Booking
   • CRM
   • Event Operations
   • Food Handling
   • Inventory Control
   • Cost Control
   • Event Logistics
   • Direct Reports
   • PowerPoint

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage a team of employees with responsibilities of 40,000 sq.
   • Create, update and manage donor databases, invitation and RSVP lists, and seating charts.
   • Conduct ROI analysis to ensure effective allocation of corporate funds and staffing resources to achieve business and sales objectives.
   • Manage weekly BEO meetings to discuss the upcoming events with other department heads to ensure the proper execution of all events.
   • Maximize revenue by upselling and managing clients' budgets effectively.
   • Manage all aspects of these events and act as onsite manager to ensure meeting are delivered effectively and professionally.

   More director of events duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the director of events job description is a good way to get more applicants. A director of events salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a director of events in Nebraska may be lower than in Massachusetts, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level director of events. Additionally, a director of events with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average director of events salary

   $65,971yearly

   $31.72 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level director of events salary

   $38,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average director of events salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	Massachusetts	$103,984	$50
   2	New York	$96,101	$46
   3	District of Columbia	$93,239	$45
   4	California	$84,582	$41
   5	Virginia	$80,667	$39
   6	Pennsylvania	$76,872	$37
   7	Washington	$76,515	$37
   8	Ohio	$68,688	$33
   9	Illinois	$62,204	$30
   10	Nevada	$60,838	$29
   11	Texas	$59,653	$29
   12	Michigan	$59,352	$29
   13	Minnesota	$58,949	$28
   14	Oregon	$57,923	$28
   15	North Carolina	$57,255	$28
   16	Missouri	$54,138	$26
   17	Florida	$54,023	$26
   18	Colorado	$53,465	$26
   19	Louisiana	$51,696	$25
   20	North Dakota	$49,592	$24

   Average director of events salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	CrowdStrike	$175,359	$84.31	1
   2	Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison	$157,925	$75.93
   3	Tableau	$151,359	$72.77
   4	Salesforce	$136,880	$65.81
   5	Conga	$130,775	$62.87
   6	ViacomCBS	$126,163	$60.66
   7	The New York Times Company	$106,751	$51.32
   8	Santander Private Banking International	$102,426	$49.24
   9	Santander Bank	$101,902	$48.99
   10	Vineyard Vines	$95,033	$45.69
   11	CyberGrants	$94,875	$45.61
   12	Committee of 100	$94,727	$45.54
   13	Neiman Marcus Group	$93,645	$45.02
   14	Cleveland Institute of Music	$93,539	$44.97
   15	Columbia University in the City of New York	$92,394	$44.42	2
   16	Washington College	$91,866	$44.17
   17	SmithBucklin	$90,823	$43.66
   18	Fidelity Investments	$87,414	$42.03	2
   19	Harvard University	$87,022	$41.84
   20	Middlebury College	$86,389	$41.53	1

4. Writing a director of events job description

   A job description for a director of events role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a director of events job description:

   Director of events job description example

   4 year college degree preferred, preferably with hospitality or sales and marketing focus.

   Experience

   Four years hospitality management or comparable industry related experience.

   Licenses/Certificates

   None

   Grooming/Uniforms

   All employees must maintain a neat, clean and well-groomed appearance. Specific uniform guidelines and/or required articles of clothing will be explained to you as a part of the orientation process.

   Other

   N/A

   Notice

   Requirements are representative of minimum levels of knowledge, skills, and/or abilities. To perform this job successfully, the incumbent will possess the abilities or aptitudes to perform each duty proficiently. Some requirements may exclude individuals who pose a direct threat or significant risk to the health and safety of themselves, other employees, or guests.

   A review of this description has excluded the marginal functions of the position that are incidental to the performance of fundamental job duties. All duties and requirements are essential job functions.

   This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor.

   The hospitality business functions seven (7) days a week, twenty-four hours a day. In addition, this is a hospitality business, and a hospitable service atmosphere must be projected at all times.

   This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an "at-will" employment relationship.

   The statements in this job description are intended to represent the key duties and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be ALL responsibilities or qualifications of the job. This position is classified as non-exempt (per the Fair Labor Standards Act) and is subject to overtime in accordance with Federal and State Regulations.

   
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right director of events for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with directors of events they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit directors of events who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your director of events job on Zippia to find and recruit director of events candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit directors of events, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new director of events

   Once you've found the director of events candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new director of events. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a director of events?